Amir Khan is confident he can put a tough year behind him and end 2012 with a bang by beating Carlos Molina in Los Angeles on Saturday night.

The Bolton fighter was a quarter of a pound under the light-welterweight limit at the weigh-in, where he stressed his awareness of what is at stake against the Mexican American.

Khan has suffered defeat in his previous two bouts against Danny Garcia and Lamont Petersen and the 26-year-old admits that a third loss on the bounce would push him down and out of the world-class bracket.

But with new trainer Virgil Hunter in his corner, Khan says that is not going to happen and underlined the importance of fighting with discipline against his undefeated opponent.

"It's going to be a tough fight no matter what," Khan said. "It's been a tough year for me but I'm going to come back with a big bang and finish the year off strongly.

"We know we've got the right tools to beat Carlos Molina. It's all about being smart and sticking to the game plan. If I get beaten it would put me back to European level. It would put me outside of that world-class level.

"I still believe I'm at world-class level and in the top 10 in the world but it would push me right back down. It would be tough for me to make it back again because I've worked so hard to get into this position.

"But we don't want to be in that situation and I've not thought about losing. I know that as long as I stick to the game plan and my instructions, then I'm not going to lose this fight."